An EVA Pilot in Greyhawk
by Lexarius
Summary: Transported to Greyhawk by the 12th Angel, Shinji Ikari is found by a grim ranger and a faerie princes. The Justicar and Escalla are willing to teach the mild-mannered pilot how to fight, survive, and win. (on hiatus)
1. Change of Scenery - How Do I Level Up?

_**An EVA Pilot in Greyhawk**_

* * *

Chapter 1  
Change of Scenery / How Do I Level Up?

* * *

Shinji Ikari never knew how he managed to get to the forest floor. More by instinct than intention, he coughed out a large amount of LCL out of his lungs. He turned face up, and fell asleep, surrounded by trees, bushes and grass.

Hours later, he began to awake, a little. The first thing he noticed was something on his chest. It was more or less small, about the size of a cat. A big one. Half asleep, he tried to open his eyes to see what it was. Before him he saw a female face. It was a beautiful face, in fact. Big blue eyes, button nose, long blond hair. Her mischievious expression reminded him of Misato, in her most playful moments. He was sure he was dreaming.

He lay his head down again, ready to go back to his dreams. He was about to turn around to get more confortable when he heard a female voice, full of joy. "Juuuus! Look what I found! Can we keep him?"

Shinji felt a shadow covering his face, he half opened his eyes, and saw a dark silhouette. It belonged to a man, a really big man; with very broad shoulders, and arms that seemed to have muscles over the muscles.

Somehow, he heard a voice inside his head, "Hi!", it came with a couple of panting noises and something that sounded like a big dog wagging its tail.

He heard an annoyed sigh, and then a deep, gravelly voice. "Escalla, we have work to do. We can take him to the next town and look for his family there."

The pilot felt a pair of strong hands lifting him with care. "Hmm... This kid is not from around here. I haven't seen this shade of skin, and his clothes are very strange."

"Hey, boy! You think he might have something to do with the big metal dummy sprawled over half the hill? He might be a warlock from far away, one of those who have their own djinns to grant them wishes." This new voice was kinda shrill, and came from near the ground.

Another annoyed sigh preceded the answer. "Polk, we will ask him later. First, lets take him to our camp. And, Escalla? Don't even think of picking his pockets. We have talked about that. Several times."

"He doesn't even have any... erm... No, of course not, Jus."

Shinji didn't awake for a while. Spending twelve hours in progressively contaminated LCL wasn't the best recipe for a restful sleep.

* * *

Finally, several hours later, Shunji awoke, wrapped in a rough blanket. Somewhere behind him, he heard a satisfied purring. The sound was very loud.

He looked around slowly, hoping his plugsuit wouldn't squeak. At last, he found the origin of the purring, silhouetted by the light of the rising sun. It seemed to be a gigantic lion. It was bigger than a horse! Shinji could see how its shoulders and head moved.

The boy blanched like a paper. Carefully, he got rid of the blanket, and began crawling backwards, getting away from the lion, trying to not make any noise.

He bumped against something hard and very solid. A tree?, no, it was a rock. Shinji changed course slowly, going around the obstacle.

A female voice, that brought to his memory the sternest teacher he had ever had in elementary school, interrupted his escape attempt. "Sir? I think our young guest has awoken."

Shinji froze on his tracks. He was trying to choose a direction to flee, when a powerful hand grabbed the life support pack of his plugsuit, lifting him clear off the ground; to then put him easily on the groung, at the other side of the man.

He found himself sitting on the ground, facing a huge man, who looked like a brutal fighter, his head was shaven clean, but some stubble had starter to show. He wore a black suit of armor. The man was sitting peacefully on a rock. He had a lustrous black pelt over his knees; it looked like the skin of a large dog. Over the rock rested a long sword, in a black leather scabbard. Its pommel was shaped like an animal's skull, but Shinji wasn't sure of what animal, exactly.

The man measured Shinji with a long stare. A few seconds later, he took a stiff bristled brush, and began to pass it along the pelt. A satisfied pant filled the air.

It took Shinji a few seconds to realize the panting noise came from the pelt! The canine head even showed its tongue lolling, and was wagging its tail!

"We are very far away from the main roads, young man. How did you came here? Were you with a caravan?" Somehow, the man's voice was a bit familiar, but Shinji couldn't place it.

"Er... No... I don't know how I... I don't even know where 'here' is, sir." Shinji crossed his arms, making the plugsuit squeak. He froze for a second, seeing the lion still was sittingin the same place. Slowly, Shinji raised a hand, and shily, he pointed to a point behind the big man, mouthing, "There's a lion back there!"

The man kept on brushing the pelt. "Don't worry, she won't harm you. She's a friend of ours." Turning his head to the right, he called. "Enid, the boy is awake."

The lion, or lioness, according to the man, stood up with grace and elegance. Shinji realized then it wasn't a lion; well, in part, but it also had wings, and a woman's head. Frankly, it was a pretty nice face, with big brown eyes and freckles over her delicate nose. Her mane was braided with little beads. On her right paw she held something like a feather, or maybe a... what was the name..? ah, a quill! Yes, it was a writing quill. Next to her rested a large inkpot, and a little desk, over wich he could see a... was that a scroll? With amazing precision, she put the quill down in the inkpot.

The sphinx walked to them, she looked a little shy. She sat about a meter and a half to the right of the man, and put a paw over her chest, saying, "Hi! Pleased to meet you. My name is Enid." Her voice was almost musical.

"Ah... Ik-k-kari, Shinji."

The big man put the brush away, examining the pelt's shine. "I am the Justicar; this," he patted the pelt's head, "is Cinders." The eyes light up, and the tail beat increased. Shinji heard a voice inside his head. "Hi! Cinders likes your smell. Friend?"

"Er... Yes?"

The tail wagged faster. "Friend!"

"And this," to Shinji's alarm, the big man drew the sword out, and held it up. The sword shone for a second, with a blue-white light. Almost like a neon tube, "is Benelux."

Another voice sounded inside Shinji's head. "Well met, young man. I expect you to correspond to the hospitality you have received in a proper manner."

Yep, just like his teacher. "Y-yes, M'am..."

The Justicar put the sword back in the scabbard, leaving both in easy reach of his hand, and after putting an old half-helmet, he set Cinders over his shaven head and tied his front paws in a knot, securing the pelt.

"The others went to get breakfast. They will come back shortly." The Justicar rose in a fluid movement. Shinji remembered a documentary about the big animals that went extinct shortly before, or around Second Impact, and the Justicar made him think of an impressive black panther; huge, powerful, silent; and above all, lethal. With the ease of long practice, the Justicar put branches, sticks and dried leaves in a kind of cone, Shinji remembered that Kensuke had prepared his campfire in a similar way. Carefully, the big man selected a stick, and put it in front of Cinders's maw. A thin flame came out of his nostrils, setting fire to the stick. The Justicar used it to start the campfire.

"Cinders helps." He heard that voice in his head. The pelt was smiling like a piranha.

Shinji knew himself a coward, but somehow, he didn't felt threatened; although the big man surely was able to break him in two without any effort.

* * *

"What were you doing in the forest?" The Justicar didn't waste anytime beating around the bush. While he waited for Shinji's answer, he started to sew a patch on an old looking black leather glove.

"I don't know how I came here, wherever it is. The last thing I remember was falling in the Angel, having some very weird dreams, and then I woke up, here."

The big guy's eyes rose, curious. "An Angel? What type?"

Shinji tried to explain as best as he could, but words were failing him, he waved his arms trying to convey something he didn't really know how to describe. "It was really weird. At first it looked like a big sphere covered with black and white stripes, but that was actually the Angel's shadow, while what we thought was the shadow was actually," he gulped, feeling the Justicar's pitilesss eyes measuring him. "it was actually the Angel. Unit-01 fell inside it as if it was some kind of quicksand. I couldn't get out! Several hours passed. I think I fell asleep and had a nightmare. Or something."

"Doesn't sound like any type of Angel I've heard about." The Justicar shrugged. "Cinders?"

"Cinders not know."

"Benelux?"

"I agree with the hellhound. I don't know every type of Angel that exists, even having being made in the Positive Matter Plane, I'm hardly familiar with all types of Angel in existance."

A wheezing, mocking laughter made itself heard. "Sword not know."

Somehow Benelux managed to snort her indignation.

"Enough." The Justicar sounded annoyed, as if those arguments were common thing. He examined the repaired glove carefully, and put needle and thread back in the backpack. He set his elbows over his knees, staring at Shinji. "Unit One is about 40 meters high, and has purple armor?"

"Er, yes, sir."

"Are you some kind of wizard or sorcerer?"

"N-no. I'm just a pilot."

The Justicar rubbed his face with one hand. "Tell me about your country. I have the suspicion you are much more lost than I had thought." He rummaged in his backpack, and extracted a piece of jerky. He cut it in half with a mean looking knife, and threw the bigger piece at Shinji.

Enid approached Shinji, the boy felt the impulse to move away, but stopped himself. The sphinx didn't look threatening in any way. Slowly, she raised a paw, and softly put it over the boy's shoulder. "Will you let me write what you tell us?"

Shinji nodded, unsure of what else to do.

* * *

The rest of the group came back just as Enid had placed her portable desk at her satisfaction, with a blank book, her inkpot and several quills.

At first, Shinji thought Polk was the local equivalent to Pen-Pen. Especially once he saw the badger drink from a whisky jug.

At finding out Escalla was a faerie princess, Shinji blushed completely red, he stood, and bowed as deeply as he was physically able. "I-I-m s-sorry, Your Majesty! I didn't know! I-I'm sorry."

Escalla pirouetted in the air, with a flying bow. Magnanimously, she smiled at Shinji. "You are forgiven. But don't ever forget it!"

Jus pinched the bridge of his nose. Escalla would be insufferable the rest of the day. Meanwhile, Henry the soldier was busy cleaning the fishes they had brought back from the river and smiled, remembering he had done almost the same thing when he met the group.

Polk stoppered his jug, and brought out a little notebook and a pencil. He tapped it twice against the notebook. "Okay, kid. I need to know your warlock level back in your country, and how many djinns you have, and all that."

"Polk, for the last time, the kid is NOT a wizard, a sorcerer, a warlock or anything like that. This is way more complicated."

"Then he must be a great hero, if he was able to tame that monster, you should learn from him, boy. You should be a proper hero, just like I've been trying to teach you." Polk would put something impressive in his chronicles, and there was not a single power, human or divine, able to persuade him not to.

The hero monicker was very uncomfortable for Shinji. "... No... I'm just... a pilot..." He wished he could disappear into the ground.

"Start at the beginning, Ikari." The Justicar passed a silent order to Cinders. It was very rare somebody could manage to deceive the hellhound. Cinders's ears stood on attention, listening carefully to every word the boy said.

Henry speared the fishes through with long branches, which he then stuck in the floor next to the fire, leaving the fishes at the right height for cooking. He went to the others, and sat in the perfect place to complement the Justicar's awareness of the environment.

* * *

Shinji told his story, although he had to stop frequently to explain how some thing or another worked, to give his tale a context. Benelux suggested that both Shinji and Unit-01 came from another Prime Material Plane, one where technology had replaced magic as the main moving force of human civilization.

Escalla held the Justicar's hand in her tiny fingers. She had recognized how the big guy's righteous fury grew as he listened to the long letany of abuses the boy had been subjected to. Shinji was alarmed when he realized Jus seemed to be chewing the muscles of his own jaw.

Finally, Shinji told about the 12th Angel's attack.

Escalla held on tightly to Jus' hand, and without releasing it, she stared at Shinji's eyes. "Your father is a really lucky man."

Shinji had no idea what the faerie meant, until she added. "Doubly lucky. He is far from Jus' reach, for one."

A dangerous look spread through Escalla's delicate features. "But especially, he's out of my reach." The faerie broke eye contact, and put her hand in the wand she carried in her belt. A significant gesture for the party, although at the moment, Shinji had no idea of exactly what Escalla was able to do with her liche staff and her ice wand.

Nor just how devilishly and creatively nasty the faerie could be when angered enough.

* * *

Suddenly, Escalla took flight. "Enough ennui!" She flew around the boy, and stopped next to him, slapping his shoulder with more force than Shinji could have guessed at. "Now you are here! Far away from that... that... _Commander_." The word sounded like poison as it came out of her delicate lips. She turned towards her lover. "Jus, we _cannot_ leave this kid alone."

"Nope. This world has it's fair amount of dangers, and Ikari doesn't know them."

"Take heart, Ikari." Escalla grabbed Shinji's shoulder, and her hand moved across the horizon in a gracefull movement. "You have a whole new world to explore! And us to help you!"

Everybody nodded their agreement at once.

"I... I don't know what to do..."

Henry stood up, and a few seconds later, he came back with the cooked fishes. "First, lets eat. Next we have to get you proper clothes." Shinji looked down at his plugsuit, and blushed.

* * *

The Justicar stood up. He put a dagger in Shinji's hands; and with another, he marked two slashes in the trunk of an old tree. "Show me how you fight. Imagine that tree is one of those Angels."

Shinji weighted the dagger tentatively, and attacked clumsily. He was used to compensate using the mass and strength of Unit-01. Fighting with his own two hands was completely alien to him. Also, Polk's advice didn't help him at all. "Keep your guard up, kid! Attack when your enemy is looking at you in the eye!"

"Polk. Shut. Up." Jus growled at the badger.

Escalla sat on the Justicar's shoulder, shooking her head. "It's gonna be a long training, right, Jus?"

The big man nodded gravely. "His technique isn't good enough to fight off a drunken one-legged goblin."

"Enough, Ikari." Shinji stopped, he had barely been able to make some slight scratches on the tree's bark. The Justicar took the dagger from Shinji's hands, and passed it to Henry.

"Watch carefully, Ikari. Henry has some training as a fighter."

Henry adjusted his grip on the dagger's handle, changed his weight from one foot to the other, and scored four deep gashes on the bark, finishing by sticking the point of the dagger into the tree, about one inch of steel penetrated.

Jus pulled the dagger out. "Half the combat is recognizing the right moment to defend and when to attack. The rest is attacking without hesitation, taking advantage of any mistake the enemy makes."

Polk added. "You must fight fair, kid, to be a true hero!" Somethow, the badger managed to smile.

"Polk, go check if the mule is hungry." The badger huffed his indignation, but obeyed. Jus continued his lesson. "Fighting fair is for show-offs, When your life, or your friends' lives are in danger, fighting fairly is idiotic. Fight to win, by any means at your reach."

Shinji remembered something Misato had said back during his second fight alongside Asuka. "We're fighting for our lives, Asuka. The last thing we want to do is give the Angels a fair fight." That or something close.

"Use any advantage you can get to win, know your enemy; if given half a chance, prepare the battle in your favor. And always attack from an unexpected angle." Shinji barely heard a whooshing sound, and the dagger was deeply stuck in the tree. Almost three inches had gone into the bark! The Justicar had moved so fast he hadn't even seen it!

Shinji's jaw dropped. "Now, eat." Jus pulled the dagger out, by moving it back and forth until it was released from its place. He put the dagger back in its place.

* * *

The deep growl of the Justicar argued with Escalla's musical voice. "I think we need some help with this. And it will probably finish our credit with Morag."

"Ha! I bet you we get some credit instead!"

Shinji was sitting next to Enid, looking while Jus and Escalla argued about what to do with Unit-01. In the meanwhile, Henry and Polk picked up camp, storing everything in Polk's wagon.

Diplomathically, Enid sniffed the air. "Ah... Ikari... No offense, but I think that... LCL, you said? I think it..."

Shinji's face went red as a tomato, realizing that the LCL had dried on his plugsuit, face and hair, and it was beginning to decompose. He sniffed his fingers, and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I-I'm sorry. I forgot. Is there somewhere I can wash and clean my clothes?"

"Sure, I'll take you there. Open that box and bring soap and a towel. I'll tell the others to wait for us here."

Shinji obeyed, and for the first time he read the banner that proudly hung from the wagon's side. "Transport to Advencher". He looked at the sphinx, who simply shrugged, guessing at the cause of his quering look.

* * *

A few minutes later, Shinji stood under a small waterfall, trembling under the cold water, but very relieved to be able to rid hinself of the dried LCL. The soap was the kind the Justicar prefered; it made its job, without any extras like perfume. Shinji started by washing himself still wearing the plugsuit, once he thought it was clean enough, he took it off, and hung it from a close branche to let it dry while he took a shower. Enid stood on guard at a discrete distance, humming a song. The beat was contagious, and Shinji joined his voice to the sphinx's. At first, he was a bit shy, but soon both were singing happily.

Once clean, Shinji used the towel, rubbing his skin with the rough cloth, and put the plugsuit back on. "Better?" he asked Enid.

Enid smiled at him, "Much better!"

When they joined back with the party, they found Jus and Escalla arguing with a crystall ball over a metal tripod.

Inside the crystall ball, they could see a female face, stern and serious. She looked like a librarian, she even had the hair in a bun and half-moon eyeglasses. The woman seemed annoyed.

"Forty meters? And what do you expect me to do with a forty meters high golem?"

"Nothing! Don't do anything with it! We just want you to keep it in a safe place while we decide what to do with it. And it's not a golem. I just said it is somewhat like a golem. It is something else."

The woman huffed, blowing a stubborn strand of hair from her right eye. Shinji guessed that was Morag.

The Justicar added, "It could be dangerous. According to its owner, that thing can flatten a whole city without much trouble, I won't leave something like that lying around where anybody could find it."

"Okay. Okay. Enough of that. I'll have to go check it in person." Morag took her eyeglasses off, pinching the bridge of her nose. When she opened her eyes again, she realized Shinji was there. "That's the owner? Where did he find the control artifact?"

The Justicar and Escalla turned towards Shinji, Jus kept on talking. "Yes, that's the owner." Shinji raised a hand, about to say that he wasn't the actual owner of Unit-01, but he noticed Escalla's frenetic negative gestures.

"Er, yes M'am. I am Ikari, Shinji. I came here with Unit-01, although I don't know exactly how."

"Very well, Ikari. Don't go anywhare. I need to wrap up some things here. I'll be there in... about forty minutes."

"Thanks, friend!" Escalla smiled at the crystal ball.

The image in the sphere disappeared. Escalla took flight and flew once around Shinji. "Okay, no worries. Morag owes us some favors, and I'm sure if somebody knows how to take your Eva-In-Helion out of this forest, it's Morag."

Using a branch, Jus began to draw on the dirt. It was very rough, but still understandable. "Morag is a Marilith, a type of demon." Seeing Shinji's expression, Jus added. "She is a renegade. Some time ago, we helped each other with some... problems." The drawing looked like a combination of woman and snake, with six arms.

Escalla examined the drawing with critical eye, and tsked. "Leave this in my able hands, honey." To Shinji's amazement, the faerie shapeshifted into a miniature version of Jus' drawing. "Of course, you have to remember Morag is much bigger, but this is how she looks."

"I-I see."

* * *

Just as Escalla had showed him, Morag was exactly as promised, but Shinji wasn't really prepared for Morag's size. The Marilith appeared in a flash, armed with several strange artifacts, a clipboard and a pencil.

Morag wasn't prepared either for Unit-01's sheer size...

* * *

"Again, from the beginning. This... thing... is an artificial humanoid." Shinji nodded.

"You are the pilot." Shinji nodded again.

"It has no energy left to move." Another nod.

"It runs on electricity, from an internal deposit." Another one.

Morag scribbled something on her clipboard. "You sit inside it to control it. And you feel what it happens to is as if it had happened to you." More nodding from Shinji.

"In a metal capsule inserted into its back. That one." Morag pointed at the plug. Another nod.

"That fills itself with a liquid that smells like blood." Shinji nodded once more.

"Both of you were swallowed by a weird creature nicknamed an 'Angel'" One more.

"And you woke up here, in the middle of the forest." While Shinji reiterated his nodding, the Marilith put a strange artifact on Unit-01's leg. Several annoying noises were heard. Morag put another annotation on his clipboard.

"I get it. Go with the others. I will check this... EVA."

Shinji sat on a fallen tree, while Morag examined Unit-01. One hour later, the snake-woman joined back with the party, wrapping her tail on another tree, without even noticing she had done so.

"I'm gonna need some help to move this thing back to my tower. The dry place and some stasis spells will keep it in working order. But," hearing this, Jus and Escalla looked at each other, bracing themselves for the cost. Morag continued. "I need you to replace the physical components for the spells. And I also want Ikari to give me something from his world." A hungry look crossed her face, making Shinji feel a chill.

* * *

Giving Morag what she wanted was quite problematic. In the whole of the Flanaess there was nothing close to the cello. It took several days to make something even remotely close to the instrument. Originally, Morag asked for some poems or romantic literature from Earth, but Shinji never had been any good with literature, and poetry was completely out of his ken.

By then, Morag and a group of minor demons under her control, that put a series of symbols and fetishes around Unit-01, and after a whole day of magical procedures, managed to create a dimensional portal big enough to displace Unit-01 into a pocket dimension, where Morag's Tower was located.

Satisfied, the snake-woman checked an annotation on her clipboard, and put the quill behind her right ear. "As part of my conditions, I want to check any emanations from the EVA. If that thing is unstable, IN ANY WAY OR FORM, I'll banish it from my home, is that clear?"

Escalla nodded tiredly, it was late and she needed her beauty sleep. Jus wrapped her in a blanket. The faerie yawned like a bear about to hibernate, and snuggled in the blanket. Immediately she began to make squirrel-like noises.

"Now, the good news," Morag crossed one last item from her clipboard, and snapped it close with satisfaction. "all auguries point at that, in five years, the effect that brought you and the EVA to this Material Plane will dissipate by itself. And you'll go back to your home dimension with no side effects. I don't think there will have passed more than a few hours."

"WHAAAAT?" Escalla paractically teleported to grab Morag's gold necklace. An impressive feat for someone who had been deeply sleep half a second before.

Morag tried to lean back before answering. "I said Ikari and his monster will go back home in five years."

"Jus! Jus! We can't allow that!"

Carefully, the Justicar pried Escalla's fingers off her prey. "Morag, is there any way to stop that?"

"No!" Jus looked behind him. Shinji had stood up. Dressed in local clothes, he looked like any other teenager in the Flanaess, except for the look in his eyes. It was one the Justicar knew very well. The look of a child who has been forced to grow up too fast. "I must go back, Unit-01 must defend my world. And I am the only one who can pilot it."

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes**_

This story came to me after rereading one of my favorite stories, the Justicar and Escalla trilogy, by Paul Kidd. It is part of the Greyhawk novels based on classic Dungeons and Dragons modules. The trilogy follows the group through three adventures, _White Plume Mountain_ (1999), a self contained story; later followed by _Descent into the Depths of the Earth_ (1999), and _Queen of the Demonweb Pits_ (2001).

There were also two whort stories, published in Dragon Magazine, _'By the Job'_ (Dragon Magazine Issue 271) is a prequel, with the first encounter of Jus and Cinders, while the other, _'The Keoland Blues_ ' (Dragon Magazine Issue 278) bridges WPM and DitDotE.

The saga is great fun, Jus simply doesn't have any time nor patience to engage in traditional heroic behavior. He does the job in the fastest and most efficient way. Preferably by attacking with surprise, from the back, and without giving the oposition any chance to retaliate. That doesn't mean he's any slouch in combat, quite the contrary! Jus is a finely tuned and very brutal killing machine. And his attitude lets him face and defeat enemies way over his actual level (the group stats were also published in Dragon Magazine, issue 290).

On the other hand, Escalla is the perfect foil to Jus. She's vain, smug, delicate, mischievious, a shameless thief and flirt. If you can think of a way to scam the bad guys and take advantage of them (in any way), Escalla has already thought of it, and discarded the plan because it wasn't fun enough. Her scams and improvised plans are incredibly fun to read.

The novels are only available in digital form now, or as audiobooks. I highly reccomend them! Especially if you are a player in a D&D group, or a DM.

BTW, I would like to actually make Shinji's PC Sheet. I haven't found the time to do it, especially considering that it would have to be easily converted from D&D to D20 Modern to reflect the fact that he would level up in a D&D class first; and later, turn that experience to his advantage back in Tokyo-3.

Although, interestingly, I think the Pathfinder rules would work better for what I'd like to do with Shinji and Unit-01.


	2. Honored to Meet You - Hard Training

**An EVA Pilot in Greyhawk**

 **Chapter 2**

Honored to Meet You/ Hard Training

* * *

"Are you sure, Ikari?" Escalla asked. "We could find you a nice place to stay while you go back to your own world."

"I am, Escalla-Denka. I have friends there. They are few, but I value their friendships. I cannot leave them to their fate."

"Wait, wait, wait. Denka? Why did you call me that?" Escalla flew around Shinji, her face was full of curiosity.

Shinji blushed immediately "Uh? Isn't that the right honorific? I'm s-sorry."

Benelux interjected, her teacher's voice in full effect. "We might have a language problem. Young Ikari, be so kind to explain."

Jus nodded silently, while Polk sharpened his pencil frantically. "Wait! Wait a moment! I need to put this in the chronicles!"

Once Polk had shaved about a whole inch of pencil, he was satisfied with its point, "Go ahead, kid, and don't spare the details!" The reincarnated cart driver began scribbling, and to the Abyss with grammar and spelling!

Shinji continued, "Um... back home, we normally use honorifics to show respect. The honorific denoting the relationship, and the use of surname or name denoting closeness of the relationship. For example, to my friends, I am 'Shinji-kun'; while to adults I may be 'Ikari-kun'. To students in years below me, I might be 'Ikari-sempai' if they don't know me well; or 'Shinji-sempai, if we are close friends'."

"Stop right there. I thought your name was Ikari and your surname Shinji." Jus' voice rumbled in curiosity.

Shinji smiled shily. "We give our surname first, and then our given name. "

Enid was deeply attentive to the discussion. "I thought you and the Commander were just namesakes, and your, I thought surnames, were like titles or something like that..." A spark of curiosity shone in Enid's eyes after a thoughtful pause. "So, I would be..."

"To me? Enid-san. Unless you were my tutor, then you would be Enid-sensei." The sphinx's freckled cheeks blushed pink for a moment.

Escalla sat on Jus' shoulders, and leaned her head over his helmet. "Back to the important bit, kid. Escalla-Denka?"

"Well, you are a Princess, but not actually in a sovereign role... I think it would be like 'Your Majesty'." Escalla beamed at that, imagining the face of her mother when she heard a honorific for her in a new language. She would be outraged!. Shinji continued. "Sometimes Japanese can be hard to trans... late." He furrowed his brow. "Wait... I am speaking your language?"

"Yup." Jus nodded again. "You are speaking Common. I've heard of this before. When one person crosses to another dimension, they get the Common language of the place they appear in. I don't know why or how. It just is."

Benelux added, "It seems you still kept some words of your mother tongue, these honorifics are very important to your culture, right?"

"They are. Omitting a honorific is a serious mistake or an insult. Only close family, like spouses or siblings can drop the honorific and use just each other's given name without causing offence."

The Justicar stood up, ready to continue with Shinji's lessons, Escalla took flight in the same movement. "Among us, and I mean this party, we just go with our given names, no need for titles." He shot a glare at Escalla, daring her to reveal his given name. The faerie smiled with mischief, said nothing, and blew a kiss at the big, mean ranger.

"Sir? I'd like to call you Sensei, it is one of the most important honorifics, and if I am to be your apprentice..."

Jus saw his eager expression, and decided to go with the flow. "Very well," he sighed. "But only during lessons. In any emergency, drop it, it will make things flow faster."

"Yes, Justicar-sensei." Shinji stood up and bowed respectfully to the big ranger.

"Hey, you can call me Escalla-Denka anytime you want, Shinji-kun!" Escalla chirped happily. "You too, honey." She tapped once on Jus' helmet, retaking her place over his shoulders.

Jus rubbed his face, again; Escalla would be smugly insufferable, again. Oh, what the Abyss! He loved her with all his heart anyway. He wouldn't change a single iota of her character. He shot her anpther glare, blunted with a crooked smile. "…Yes… Escalla-Denka." He sighed.

"Um…" Shinji hesitated. "I don't mean to pry, but, are you a couple? Married?"

"Not officially, but yes." Jus raised an eyebrow. "There _is_ an honorific for that, right?"

"Yes, you can add -Chan to each other names. That's the honorific for romantic partnes or close family, if they are younger." Shinji smiled at them.

"You heard the expert, Jus-Chan."

"Yes, I did, Escalla-Denka." He knew the faerie was beaming at him from her perch over his shoulders, he knew very well how to press her buttons, just as she knew his.

* * *

During the next weeks of travel, the Justicar subjected Shinji to a hard training regime. After evaluating his physical condition, Jus demonstrated the routine he engaged every day to keep in good fighting shape; general exercises, taught to him by his old, late, master, Recca. Henry and Shinji followed him, with different results. Henry was well used to the routine, but still couldn't reach Jus' level of prowess. Shinji was quite behind, but he gave his whole effort.

Soon, the boy was losing his meager fat, and his muscles started to sharpen under his skin. He was still thin and lanky, but his strength, dexterity and endurance had grown a lot. His pain tolerance was high before, thankfully.

Jus had planned to get Shinji in top shape before teaching him to use weapons and armor.

The days on the road were spent in long lessons about Oerth, the cultures, and the creatures that the party could be finding in their travels. And what to do about them in case they needed to fight. Shinji absorbed the info with an eagerness that surprised him.

The Justicar was a stern and fair teacher. He corrected any mistakes immediately, and his compliments were few and between, and therefore, very valued.

Escalla and Enid were much more free with the compliments. Especially after the first time Shinji made faerie cakes. The faerie princess had a large sweet tooth, and Shinji was an accomplished cook.

Polk sat near Enid to watch the training, constantly commenting their performance, all his comments tinted by his particular point of view about heroism. Had Shinji been more of a reader, he might have used the word "quixotic" for Polk's ideas.

* * *

Along the road, Shinji started to learn the crafts of survival in the wilderness. How to find food and water, how to recognize poisonous plants, track, hunt or trap prey; prepare animal carcasses for food and skin; this was the hardest thing to do for the boy; as he had never had used a knife in animals that had been alive until a little while before.

The first time he killed a rabbit, the boy had felt terribly sick, and emptied his stomach behind a bush. "Now I know why Rei is a vegetarian..." he mumbled while returning.

* * *

The Justicar watched closely every move Shinji made, just as if the boy was an enemy, quickly finding his weak points. "Shinji, grip the handle tightly."

The pilot was practicing basic attacks and parries, he had to alternate between the two. But he tended to slack while he changed form. Just demonstrated the right technique once again.

* * *

"Your whole body is a weapon, if you find a way to use it. Hands, fingers, elbows, shoulders, knees, feet, heels; even your tongue can be a weapon. An insult in the right moment can be enough to make your enemy act in a rush. An animal call can be a good way to communicate with allies or deceive the enemy. The same goes for wherever you fight, the environment can be a weapon too; rocks, furniture, tools, cooking implements; even the walls or dust can be used to your advantage. Weapons like knives, swords, spears are just obvious and especialized tools."

Benelux snorted her indignation, "Sir Justicar! I must protest at this indignity! _I am more than a mere tool!_ I am a _Symbol_! An **_EXAMPLE_** even!"

While Cinders laughed his wheezing laughter, Jus sighed in annoyance. "I mean inanimated weapons, Benelux."

"Oh, I see. Please go on."

Jus shook his head and continued with the lesson. "Your most important weapon is in here." He tapped twice on Shinji's forehead. "Your mind. Without it, you're doomed even with the best weapons and armor. And with it, even completely naked you are dangerous."

Behind the Justicar, Escalla clapped enthusiatically, and yelled, "Hear! Hear! I _attest_ to that! _Woohooo_!"

For some reason, Jus' face turned an interesting shade of crimson.

* * *

The party kept mostly out of trouble during their trip, no warlords, no evil goddesses trying to conquer the world, no crazy sisters or undead teachers trying to kill them.

Even Polk noticed this strange lack of adversaries. "This is getting on my nerves, boy," he nudged Jus with a hairy elbow, "How can you learn how to be a hero when there's no worthy adversaries for you to best in singular combat? I weep for next generations of heroes if there's a shortage in villainy and scummery!"

Jus kept walking next to the wagon, methodically chewing a strip of jerky and doing his best to ignore Polk's... badgering...

Cinder's muzzle twitched minutely. "Sweaty men ahead... horseys too. Not many."

Jus instantly went into high alert. He patted Cinder's head over his helmet. "Good job." The pelt wagged his tail happily.

The Justicar turned to Escalla and Enid. The big sphinx carried Escalla over her back, while the faerie dozed in the warmth of the sun, humming an old faerie song, with her feet drummed in the air. "Girls, Cinders smells men ahead, we are far from the main roads, and that might mean bandits."

Instantly, both girls slipped into their roles. Escalla turned invisible and shot ahead, while Enid took flight high in the air.

Jus turned to Polk, "Stop the cart. Shinji, Henry; get ready." Shinji hid in the back of the wagon, while Henry readied his magical repeating crossbow with a fresh magazine.

A few minutes later, Enid landed next to the wagon. "it's a gang of bandits, I counted seven men and nine horses. They are set to ambush travelers."

Jus nodded, while Enid used a claw to draw a crude map. "They are here and here," she pointed at the drawing. "The horses are hidden here."

"Good, this is what we do." Jus had barely started to make his plans known, when Escalla came back, with a smug grin on her lips. "Problem solved, boys. As always, the faerie is cursed to face inferior opponents."

Jus sweatdropped. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"Relax, Jus-Chan. I just corrected a hideous injustice. The horses are now free, running to their little hearts content." Her right hand spanned the horizon, "The bandits are chasing them as we speak. We can pass unmolested. And I doubt they will be up to their trick for a few days, I loosened their saddle bags, they will be collecting their stuff for days!"

Polk stomped the ground. "You prevented a heroic fight against the forces of evil? How can the boys prove their worth as heroes if they can't fight against evil? How? Just explain me that, girl!"

"Polk, you are gonna give you a stroke if you keep like this. Those guys are no worthy opponents for a hero of Jus'caliber! I just avoided a terrible waste of time!"

Jus growled a "Good job." at Escalla.

"Okay, rest is over, let's go on."

Still sulking, Polk made the mule's reins snap to make it go. Out of Jus' sight, Escalla whispered in Enid's ear. "Come with me, I need to get the bounty! Those guys had a bag full of money with them! Enough for a good couple of meals in the next town! I hope they have faerie cakes, or at least the ingredients!"

* * *

 ** _Author Notes:_**

I freely admit I'm not that well versed in Japanese honorifics, I got most of my info from Internet. So, to keep things simple, Shinji will only be using a few honorifics in formal or semi-formal occasions: Sensei, to the Justicar; Denka, to Escalla, San, to Polk and Morag, and Sempai, to Henry and Enid. In public or during emergencies, he will stick to their given names.

In the previous chapter, he was still kinda too shocked to remember to use them (and I forgot to include them!).

Nobody else will get the honorifics.

Of course, if I'm using the honorifics wrong, please send me a PM to correct me and point me to a good resource.

* * *

The Justicar and Escalla novels were based on old 1st Edition AD&D adventures, so I thought it would be nice to try to use other modules for this story.

I'm planning on using a couple of modules, one just because it was incredibly fun to DM, and the other for mere sentimental value, as it was the first RPG stuff I ever bought. Although both jus and Cinders might have some trouble with one of the main NPCs in that one.

* * *

The bit about "evil goddesses trying to conquer the world, crazy sisters or undead teachers trying to kill them" is a direct reference to the novels.

Yes, that happened to the party.

You have to read the novels!


	3. Rockburgh-On-the-Marsh - Crash and Meet

**An EVA Pilot in Greyhawk**

 **Chapter 3**

Rockburgh-On-the-Marsh / Crash and Meet

* * *

Finally, the strange little caravan arrived to a town. Shinji read its name from the signpost, "Rockburgh-On-the-Marsh." He was very glad he didn´t need to learn the local language, if it was even half as complex as kanji, he would be in very dire straits. "Weird name for a town." He commented.

"Yup," the Justicar grumbled. "There are similar names all around the Flanaess. You´ll get used to it."

Shinji shrugged. He had a lot to learn about this strange new world the Twelfth Angel had thrown him into. Strange named places was kinda low in his list of priorities, though. He was more worried about all the weird and hostile creatures that prowled around. If a month ago, someone had told him he would need to learn about over fifteen different kinds of dragons to know how best not be eaten by them; well, he would have laughed. He still would like to get to know one.

A _metallic_ dragon, of course. According to the Justicar´s knowledge, metallic dragons were relatively nice, as long as one took care not to offend their delicate sensibilites. A good deal of flattery was involved in dealing with any dragon. And he wasn´t sure he would be up to the task.

As soon as the town was in sight, Polk began to lick his chops. "At last, boys! Civilization! We need to look for a tavern or an inn! That´s were the action is waiting for us! Injustice and evil plots to be found and thwarted!"

Shinji looked at Enid and arched an eyebrow, the big sphinx´s wide paws padded softly on the ground, while she hummed a piece Shinji had taught her, Vivaldi ´s _Four Seasons_. On her back, Escalla snored peacefully, a little soft hat over her face, her fingers laced over her belly. Enid smiled at Shinji, and said "He means ´ _stopped_.´ He likes to use words like _thwarted_ , _thews_ , _mighty_ , and alike. For the chronicles."

"Of course I do, girl!" The badger snapped the reins, and the mule quickened its pace a little. "A proper chronicle needs to be clear and precise! But has to paint a thousand words to get the picture across! In the future, when people read of your adventuring, they must be properly impressed on your heroism. Although I despair of the boy from learning the trade as he should, being a little hard on the head," he pointed his right thumb claw at the Justicar, and turned towards Shinji, "I hope you will take on the straight and narrow path of a proper hero, kid!" He poked the pilot´s shoulder with a claw, and shot a glance at the Justicar´s back, but the big man merely snorted his disagreement.

"Shinji, " he barked an order, "get down and walk with me."

The pilot jumped down from his seat on the wagon, and walked alongside his mentor, still a little unconfortable in the rough clothes the group had made for him. "This town is a very peaceful place; I don´t expect any trouble here; but it´s a good place for you to practice what you´ve learned so far in a safe environment; we will go into the tavern, yes; but don´t let Polk fill your head with silliness. In my experience, taverns are among the last places you´ll find adventures that don´t end up with itching in very uncomfortable places." He let that sink for a moment, and continued, "We will buy some stuff, stay a couple of days at the inn to rest, and go on on our way. That´s it. Just a resupply stop, and we will go on to the next town." Shinji nodded.

"Glad to hear it, Justicar-sensei. My back feels weird from sleeping on the ground."

"That´s normal, you´ll get used to it soon, I promise." Shinji nodded again. These last few weeks he had learned a lot about survival, and about this world. Kensuke would have given his right hand to sit with the Justicar and learn even half of what Shinji had learned.

As hard to believe as it was, many of the most outlandish tales Escalla had told him were corroborated by the Justicar.

At that moment, Cinder´s ears perked up, and the hellhound pelt sniffed the air eagerly, wagging his tail. "Many humans, few dwarves, cooking coal..." Somehow, Cinder´s maws filled with saliva.

"Focus, Cinders, We will eat soon, and I´ll buy you some coal. What else?"

"Wet clothes, smells bad, like wet human. Some dogs. Birdies cooking." Cinders sniffed cautiously, "Weird smell... Not know it, like… guards in big spider house, but not like it. Strange noise somewhere..." His ears swiveled around and his brow furrowed, "Not know where, nearer."

"What kind of noise?" The big man loosened Benelux on her scabbard.

Everybody kept quiet, Enid looked around, trying to find the source of the noise, although her hearing wasn´t as good as Cinders´. Shinji and Henry strained their ears, trying to find the sound. Silently, Henry prepared his magical crossbow, and slid a magazine in the slot of the weapon.

Cinders hissed in their minds. "High-pitched noise, like sound Polk does when tail stepped on."

"Hey! Not my fault this badger body was the only one availabl-" Polk answered indignantly.

With a lightning fast movement, the Justicar clamped Polk´s mouth with his left hand, and put his right index finger over his own lips. Polk emmited a little whimper. "Be quiet!" he hissed at the teamster. His right hand returned to Benelux´s pommel. Even the sword seemed to be listening around, as she kept silent.

Slowly, Jus released Polk, staring into his eyes with a silent warning.

By then Enid was looking around, her lionine ears swiveling too, trying to place the point of origin of the sound. "It´s like a scream." She whispered.

Soon, Jus was turning his head left and right, methodically scanning around. Now everybody could hear it. It really was a scream.

Then, a crash from somewhere out of sight. Cinders added, helpfully. "Pots, a jug of water. Broken. People angry. No scared."

Jus patted his friend´s head, "Good job." Cinders panted happily.

"Um... Sensei. What was th-ouff!" Something crashed against Shinji´s stomach, slamming him against the packed dirt of the road, and driving the air from his lungs. It felt as if somebody had hit him with a bag of sand right in the ol´ bread box. Immediately, Jus went into fighting mode. Benelux was out her scabbard in a flash of blue-white light.

While Shinji gasped, trying to recover his breath, a short gray figure stood next to him. "Oh, sorry," the figure put Shinji back on his feet, and patted his clothes hurriedly, knocking off some of the dust in his clothes, "I forgot. Bye!" it said, with a voice that sounded like gravel on sand, jumped into the air, and soon was waiving its arms around in a desperate try to steady its course.

It was terribly obvious that the effort was absolutely wasted.

The creature crashed into the side of a house a few buildings ahead, and slid down until it reached the ground, head first, tangling itself on a clothesline, still full of drying bedsheets. Almost immediately, the shrill voice of a woman could be heard. "Dammit, Hubert! My clean sheets!" Followed by a sound suspiciously close to a broom hitting the floor repeteadly.

"...Jusssss five more minuffs, daad..." Escalla mumbled over Enid´s back, and turned around in her sleep.

* * *

"Was that a gargoyle, sir?" Henry asked, scratching the back of his head. He slid the safety catch of the crossbow to the safe postition, but kept the weapon loaded and ready to shoot.

"It looks like, but I had never seen one like that." Jus rubbed his chin, thinking.

Enid padded closer, "It had no wings."

"Well, that explains the screams and the crashes. Are you okay, Shinji?" The Justicar asked without turning around, he was busy looking around.

"Just a little winded, Sensei. I´m okay."

"Good. But if you are hurt, let me know. It´s good that you can take some pain, but it wouldn´t do you any good to try to fight with any injury that impedes your movements. We will come to that later."

"I´m fine." Shinji grumbled.

Jus nodded, closing the matter.

"Well, let´s see what was that about, shall we?" Benelux added from her scabbard.

* * *

 _ **Author Notes:**_

For Shinji´s first real adventure in Greyhawk, I chose to use the _WG9 Gargoyle_ module, by Dave Collins and Skip Williams. It was the first AD&D adventure I ran as a DM (also the first one I ever bought; however, the first RPG I got was the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century boxed set, also by TSR; but I haven´t had the chance to run a session of it!), and it is a relatively forgiving adventure to play. I highly reccomend it for a novice DM, as it is quite a funny story!

Ah, yes... This story will contain a lot of spoilers for WG9, but as it was written to bridge 1E and 2E, well, that was a few Editions ago...

* * *

After some digging around, I found a very nice Character Generator for D20 Modern, and spent a few minutes designing Shinji´s Character Sheet. These stats reflect Shinji as he was when he arrived at Tokyo-3. Of course, by the time he is sent to Ghreyhawk, he has taken a few levels more.

I chose Though Hero as a class for Shinji, because if there´s a thing Shinji can do, is take a lot of punishment and still be functional.

Rei might be a Smart Hero (again, low Wisdom), and Asuka will be either Fast or Strong, being more close-combat oriented than her two colleages (Low Wisdom seems to be a pre-requisite for Evangelion pilots, it keeps them being manipulable).

Originally, I had planned on using the _Mecha Jockey_ Advanced Class from _D20 Future_ , but I realized Shinji would have to have too many Character Levels to be as he was shown in the anime; so I devised a new Feat for the Children: _Evangelion Pilot [the Character is one of the few Chosen Children able to pilot an Evangelion Unit]:_ I thought it would be easier to justify how Shinji was able to pilot Unit-01 without any prior training without having him assign the 6 required Skill Ranks in _Drive_ (and he didn´t ever show any hint of being able to drive).

BTW, the high Charisma is intentional, I think it explains why Misato took him undert her wing, why all the girls were all over him when he revealed he was a pilot, and why Rei changed loyalties at the end. But, as he has a low Wisdom, well... Shinji didn´t really took advantage of his Charisma; otherwise, he would have had a harem by episode 10.

Note the negative to the Sense Motive and Gamble skills... Completely unintentional, but appropiate!

* * *

Rei already had several character levels when Shinji arrived, but Asuka was even higher in level, due to her own training. Their stats will appear in future chapters.

* * *

 **Shinji Ikari**

Human Male **Tough Hero** Level 1  
 **HPs** : 10

 **STR** : 10 (+0); **DEX** : 11 (+0); **CON** : 15 (+2); **INT** : 10 (+0); **WIS** : 8 (-1); **CHA** : 16 (+3)  
 **Size:** Medium; **Height:** 5' 2"; **Weight:** 120 lb; **Eyes:** Blue; **Hair:** Dark Brown

 **Talents** :Remain Conscious  
 **Total Hit Points** : 12  
 **Speed** : 30 feet

 **Armor Class** : 11 = 10 + 1 [class]; **Touch** **AC** : 11; **Flat-footed** : 11

 **Initiative modifier:** +4 = +0 [dexterity] +4 [improved initiative]

 **Fortitude save:** +3 = 1 [base] +2 [constitution] ; **Reflex save:** +0 = 0 [base]; **Will save: -** 1 = 0 [base] -1 [wisdom]

 **Attack (handheld):** +0 = 0 [base]  
 **Attack (missile):** +0 = 0 [base]  
 **Grapple check:** +0 = 0 [base]

 **Reputation:** +0 = 0 [base]; **Action points** : 5 (lifetime)

 **Light load:** 33 lb. or less; **Medium load:** 34-66 lb.; **Heavy load** : 67-100 lb; **Lift over head:** 100 lb.; **Lift off ground:** 200 lb.; **Push or drag:** 500 lb.

 **Student** (starting occupation)  
Computer Use; Knowledge (current events); Perform (stringed)

 **Feats:**

Improved Initiative; Simple Weapon Proficiency [Knife]; Evangelion Pilot [the Character is one of the few Chosen Children able to pilot an Evangelion Unit]

 **Skills:**

 **Balance** (DEX*) 1; **Bluff** (CHA) 3; **Concentration** (CON) 3; **Craft** (Cooking) (INT) 2; **Diplomacy** (CHA) 3; **Disguise** (CHA) 3; **Gamble** (WIS) -1; **Gather Information** (CHA) 3; **Hide** (DEX*) 1; ( **Intimidate** (CHA) 3; **Jump** (STR*) 0.5; **Knowledge: Classical Music** (INT) 1; **Knowledge: Current Events** (INT) 1; **Listen** (WIS) -1; **Perform: Cello** (CHA 5); **Search** (INT) 0.5; **Sense Motive** (WIS) -1; **Spot** (WIS) -1; **Survival** (WIS) -1; **Treat Injury** (WIS) -1  
* = check penalty for wearing armor

 **Human**  
Extra feat at first level (already included); Four extra skill points at first level (already included); One extra skill point at each additional level (already included)

 **Shinji Ikari's Equipment:  
** Student´s Laptop, Cello (w/case and bow), SDAT and assorted tapes

 **Shinji Ikari's Languages:  
** Japanese (Speak, Read and Write)

 **Shinji Ikari's Allegiance(s):  
** Cmdr Gendo Ikari, Misato Katsuragi, Rei Ayanami

 **Wealth +1 (Student):** 3


End file.
